You guuuuuuuuuyyyyyssssssss! I's murried now! lol

I'm literally on my honeymoon, buuuuuuuuut I think I'm gonna go out on a limb and start posting as I go. I'm really excited to put this out and I really hope this second part doesn't disappoint!

I would like to keep the whole Mon/Thurs upload schedule, but since I only have the first three chapters complete so far, we'll see how well that works out lol

For the exception of the last four chapters, each chapter will be centered around one character with a few later ones focusing on two. I wanted to challenge myself to see if I can drive a story through one character at a time. Just FYI, I channeled my inner Season 4-On Cosmo in this one, so you guys miiiiiiight not like him very much (I'm sorry.) He makes up for it in the third part (hopefully) but yeah.

Enough with the drabble. On with the first chap!

Within the smaller suburbs of Fairy World, a shamrock-green fairy sporting rectangular spectacles playfully tossed his young offspring in the air, his son filling the summer air with his over-joyous laughter. Lavender lush grass surrounded their tiny cottage, mauve concrete walls and magenta circled windows hatted with a sweeping roof line. Individual stones lined a path to the indigo wooden door arched in the same magenta wood, and a makeshift mailbox stood before the sidewalk, the surname 'Cosma' signed in dark letters on the side.

"Keep going, papa!" the five-year-old beamed when his father paused momentarily, holding him by his sides. "I wanna go higher!"

"Okay, son." laughed the green fairy, never wanting that ear-to-ear smile to fade as it didn't happen often no thanks to that mother of his.

Squealing in excitement, the young fairy allowed his wings to cease flight so his father could throw him higher, trusting his father's hands to catch his fall. Father and son always loved moments like this where it was just the two of them, molding their unbreakable bond born the moment the father held his son in his arms for the first time. Men, more often than not, struggled with bonding with their sons because of how their fathers struggled to bond with them. With the curse of toxic masculinity, it's no surprise some boys grow up not feeling all that close to their fathers nor really understanding the true meaning of what it means to be a man.

Papa Cosmo experienced this with his own father Grandpa Gonzo, and when Cosmo was born, he made a promise to himself that he would not repeat that pattern.

He would raise his son differently, promoting the healthy expression of emotions, teaching his son that it's okay to cry. It almost seemed reversed with Mama Cosma who instilled fear as opposed to respect, so Papa Cosmo sort of wore the 'good cop' hat with Cosmo. This led to Cosmo sticking to his father like glue, constantly wanting his company and looking to him as his role model.

As Papa Cosmo continued to toss his son, Cosmo was having the time of his life. This lasted a bit longer, until Papa Cosmo threw Cosmo in the air, and as Cosmo descended, his father didn't catch him…

His backside throbbed from the impact of falling onto the lilac wooden floor, suddenly feeling three years older. Eight-year-old Cosmo rubbed below his back, trying to remember how he got there. Pushing himself to his feet, he found himself floating before the teal wooden door of the single bathroom, and with growing curiosity, he gently pushed the door open, peering inside. He looked around the tall walls of floral wallpaper, seeing the familiar pastel-pink shower curtain next to the porcelain toilet seated to the left of the turquoise wooden countertop framing a singular pearl-white sink. When his eyes veered downwards to the white marble tile, his heart stopped from the view of a lifeless body sprawled next to an empty pill bottle.

The lifeless body that once belonged to his beloved father…

Cosmo awoke with a start in his bed, the resonation of his phone ringing in his ears. He held a hand to his chest as his heart pumped wildly against it, taking deep breaths as his other hand reached for his phone on his nightstand. Seeing Mr. Wonka's number across the caller ID, he let out a sullen groan before pressing the answer button, holding the phone to his ear as he croaked "…hey, Mr. Wonka."

"Hey, Cosmo, I need a favor."

Cosmo pulled back the covers to dangle his legs over the side of the bed, preparing for what he knew this 'favor' to be. "What kind of favor?"

"Three people called out today and I need the extra help."

Of course. Same old song and dance of "How can life royally screw with Cosmo today?" "This was supposed to be my day off…"

"And I was supposed to have ten people on the floor." Mr. Wonka countered. "But instead, I have seven, and it's crazy busy for a Sunday."

Of course, it's busy…Cosmo thought to himself, jadedly rubbing his eyes. It's a diner, it's always frickin' busy…

"I'll pay you time and a half if you do this for me." Mr. Wonka proposed, well aware that what he was asking has happened six times in the last two months and Cosmo was already wearing thin. "Please, Cosmo? I could really use you today."

Cosmo couldn't help but scoff. Mr. Wonka rarely said the word 'please'; things must be really crazy over there. "…when do you need me?"

"Can you come like, right now?"

"Sure." Cosmo sighed. "I'll be there shortly."

"Great, thanks Cosmo."

After the call disconnected, Cosmo shut his flip-phone and smashed it onto his nightstand irritably, propping his elbows on his lap to hold his face in his palm. Though the evening shift meant more money, that also meant longer hours. At least with the day shift, though less money, the shifts are usually shorter.

Maybe he can muster his way through.

Thornton and Spike occupied the gray-leather three-seater buttressed against the light-teal walls, engaged in a game of Star Fighter III heightened in graphics thanks to the HD 40-inch flat screen.

Spike's high-fade mohawk had grown to a cobalt-blue long top combed to one side with his sides buzzed instead of completely shaved, and he chin grew a trimmed chinstrap beard. His long silver chain hung over his black T-shirt, paired with a dark denim jacket and black ripped jeans with checkered patches beneath the rips, styled with his favorite black combats.

Thornton dreaded his tangerine afro into starter locs hanging just above his ears, and his black souvenir jacket had white sleeves and the large image of a phoenix embroidered on the back, coating his white oversized T-shirt untucked over his acid-wash jeans, his fire-orange sneakers trimmed with white soles with the same chain as Spike dangling over his neck in the shade of gold.

Since off-campus apartments were slightly cheaper than on-campus, originally, they were all going to share a four-bedroom; however, due to the current strain between Cosmo and Wanda, they felt it was best to live in the same Scorpio's Layer complex with Cosmo sharing a three-bedroom with Thornton and Spike while Wanda did the same with Susie and Rose.

As Cosmo shut the door to his bedroom, Thornton turned briefly to see Cosmo dressed in his server uniform with a paper hat over his shaggy green undercut, nudging Spike to pause the game. "Let me guess." Thornton began as Cosmo flew down the three-bedroom hallway into the living room, noticing Cosmo's 'please shoot me' expression. "Mr. Wonka called you."

"This 'time and a half' pay better be worth it…" Cosmo muttered.

"Need a lift?"

"No thanks…" Cosmo took out his wand from his back pocket. "I'll just poof there."

"Could you not just say 'no'?" Spike asked. "I mean, this was supposed to be your first day off in like, weeks."

"There's no telling Mr. Wonka 'no.'" Thornton commented. "Many have tried, and those many have not returned."

"Oh…" Spike uttered, though he probably shouldn't expect any less from the manager of a successful diner. "…well, damn."

"Tell me about it…" Cosmo held up his wand, sighing "…see you guys later" before disappearing in a cloud of green.

. . . . . .

Balancing full plates on his arms, Cosmo floated from the back kitchen to the tabled booth of a family of five. The three kids hyped on soda and milkshakes bounced in their seats as Cosmo set the plate of food to their respective customers, trying to remember who ordered what. Surprisingly, he got the orders right on the first try. Well, at least he thought he got the orders right.

"I didn't order this crap!" the wife complained bluntly while her husband attempted to get their kids to settle down.

Keeping his poker face, Cosmo pulled out his notepad where he wrote down all the orders of all his tables to prevent this type of situation from happening. "I have here chili cheese nachos as your order."

"I ordered chili cheese fries!" she disputed adamantly. "Not chili cheese nachos!"

Cosmo, unfazed by her attitude, frankly stated "Ma'am, you said nachos. I wouldn't have written it down if you didn't say it."

With the added bonus of an unnecessary neck roll, the customer crossly responded with "Well, I meant fries."

If Cosmo had any nerves left, this she-devil just irked the last one. "I can't read your frickin' mind-"

"Is something wrong, ma'am?" Snarki, Cosmo's superior, suddenly came from behind with a more professional tone than Cosmo could fake in that moment. Much like his uncle Mr. Wonka, he had azure eyes with brassy-blonde hair curled in a small puff on his head, but unlike Mr. Wonka, Snarki's stature more aligned with Cosmo's and his oblong facial structure made him appear much older than just five years Cosmo's senior.

"I ordered chili cheese fries, and your 'buddy' over here gave me nachos!" her bitter emphasis on 'buddy' crawled under Cosmo's skin. Gee, did he realllly need this job that badly?

"I'm so sorry, ma'am." Snarki apologized on Cosmo's behalf, taking her plate. "We'll get this fixed right away."

"Don't expect me to pay for this crap, either!" she continued to gripe as Cosmo mustered the will not to roll his eyes.

"It's on the house, ma'am." Snarki assured before grabbing Cosmo by the arm which Cosmo certainly didn't appreciate the force behind it. "We'll be right back. Sorry for the inconvenience again."

Plate in one hand with Cosmo's arm in the other, Snarki dragged Cosmo away from the table towards the back kitchen out of the sight of customers, pulling Cosmo to face him as other servers buzzed passed them to grab their tables' orders. "What's one of our most important mottos?" Snarki interrogated through gritted teeth, his 'professional' demeanor vanishing the moment he and Cosmo were alone.

Cosmo may not remember a lot of things, but he certainly remembered that stupid motto since Snarki loved to constantly drill it down his throat. "She literally said nachos! I heard it with my own ears! Why would I write down nachos if she-"

"What. Is. The motto." Snarki interrupted, more demanding in his tone. He wasn't one for excuses, especially not from waiters who knew better.

Groaning in defeat, Cosmo realized he wasn't going to win this fight. When it came to Snarki, he never could. "…the customer can fire everyone in the company simply by spending their money somewhere else…"

Venom in his glare, Snarki flew closer to Cosmo, something he always did when he tried to be intimidating. "I don't care if she ordered a salad but meant a burger! If the customer is dissatisfied, that means loss of reputation which means loss of business…" Cosmo maintained his own glare as Snarki poked his chest with a stern pointed finger. "…which means loss of a job if you're not careful. Get your act together, and get it quick."

Cosmo winced subtly from Snarki shoving the plate against his torso, his voice lowered to a menacing tone as Snarki ordered "Take this crap back. And if I see you screw up like this again, I won't be so nice about it."

When Snarki stormed off to tend to his own tables, Cosmo watched him with a glower, grumbling to himself before taking the plate to the back kitchen.

. . . . . .

Leaned against the purple walls of the diner, Cosmo gazed upon the mid-afternoon August sun from around the back of the diner, failing miserably at clearing his mind on his second fifteen-minute break.

To say Snarki lived up to his name would be an understatement; his tyranny left a bad taste in a lot of coworkers' mouths. In Snarki's mind, you were always wrong, even if you were in the right. He'd find any excuse to yell and label you a failure, and complaining to Mr. Wonka about it proved futile. Snarki could do no wrong in Mr. Wonka's eyes, and yet he never bothered to put two and two together to why there've been more servers calling in ever since Snarki was hired.

Let him tell it, but Snarki singled out Fairy Academy students the most. Without a real reason as to why, any employee also going to school full-time were grilled harder than others. Unfair targets of Snarki's degrading criticism, they were held to a higher impossible standard simply because the diner wasn't their only commitment. The diner maybe Snarki's whole life, but that didn't mean it had to be Cosmo's whole life. The only reason he had this stupid job is to pay for the education required to do what he actually wanted to do, to better his life in something far greater than waiting on hangry, overly-entitled customers…

"Is the sky really that interesting?"

Cosmo's attention turned to the voice of his colleague, watching her as she came closer to him. Oddly enough, if it weren't for her navy-blue back-length curls and crimson eyes, she could easily be mistaken as a slightly older version of Wanda. Same heart-shaped face, same slim build, same porcelain skin, both ears lined with silver studs and a septum ring hanging from her nose.

"Where's your carrot top buddy?" Rhonda, another odd comparison to Wanda, inquired as she propped herself against the wall next to Cosmo. "Thought you two always had the same schedule."

"Today was supposed to be my day off…" Cosmo sullenly replied, adjusting his hands tucked in his black pockets.

"Wait," Rhonda arched her brow. "Today's your day off?"

Cosmo sighed. "Not anymore…"

"Wow, that's lame."

"Very."

"So that must mean Snarky McSnarkesten's on your ass again."

Turning his head to face Rhonda, Cosmo slowly blinked as he mumbled "Definitely."

Rhonda scoffed. "Well, I'd probably be an ass too if my uncle made me work every day."

"What do you mean?"

"You mean you don't know?" Rhonda asked as if obvious. "He's a high school dropout, can't enlist in the Fairy Military because of astigmatism, and he literally has no other job experience. So, his uncle makes him work every day so he'd have somethin' else goin' for him. Pretty pathetic if you ask me."

Cosmo paused. "…you had me up until astiga…somethin'…nother."

"Astigmatism." Rhonda slowly repeated. "Basically, he's practically blind without contacts."

"Oh." Cosmo thought for a moment before he questioned "How do you know all that?"

"We went to Poofy Pants together." Rhonda wasn't exactly thrilled in that reveal. "I know more about him than I want to, but our class was pretty small."

"But I went to Poofy Pants, too." Cosmo commented. "I never saw you guys there."

"That's because by the time you were like what, a high school freshman? I was a sophomore at Fairy Academy."

"…ooooh."

Cosmo had never befriended an older woman before, but her 'child at heart' mentality made it less awkward. She started working as a busser not long after Snarki came along, and sometimes they were scheduled on the same shift. Despite being young at heart, her intelligence mirrored that of his girlfriend. He wasn't sure if her odd resemblance to Wanda drew him to her, but she seemed pretty easy to talk to regardless of their lack of commonalities, including how Cosmo hated to read, but Rhonda graduated with a degree in Creative Writing and usually spent her breaks reading if didn't run into Cosmo to converse with.

"…so." Cosmo began, breaking the awkward silence. "Any chance you can get Snarki to take a chill pill?"

"Ha, I wish. But…" Lifting herself from the wall, Rhonda used two fingers to delicately brush along Cosmo's forearm, staring warmly into his green orbs. "You can always come to me to help you feel better."

Staring into her crimson eyes, this wouldn't be his first occurrence of mixed signals. "…how?"

"That's for me to know." She curled her lips slowly, using those same two fingers to softly poke Cosmo on the nose. "And for you to find out."

His limbs felt frozen as she widened her smile at his bewilderment, and as he watched her make her way back inside the diner, Cosmo subconsciously rubbed his nose.

Sometimes when it was just the two of them, Rhonda had tendencies to be a little 'handsy.' A stroke of the arm here, a playful poke of the nose there, all of which were unclear to Cosmo as to the why. This started about a month ago, and while Cosmo briefly mentioned his girlfriend to her once, she'd act as if he never said anything about his relationship before.

Cosmo didn't think he should find any harm in this though. Back in high school, Susie would playfully touch him in a similar manner, and he wouldn't think much of it because the friendzone was mutual. Though, thinking back, Susie wasn't as touchy as Rhonda, and Rhonda wasn't exactly shy about it. He was finally free of those dreaded braces and his acne was almost completely clear. He'd gotten maybe one or two flattering looks (which is a lot more than he's ever gotten) but he didn't think that meant Rhonda would be interested in him in that way.

He also felt…'different' to say the least. Maybe it was because he and Wanda weren't as physically intimate as they once were, but when Rhonda touched him, he felt those same icy tingles he hadn't felt in a while. Since the whole debacle that happened at the Enchanted Forest, regaining his trust in Wanda has been an ongoing, long, grueling, excruciating process. It hurt him to be so distant, and he could tell it was hurting Wanda in the same vein. However, he had to hold her at arm's length. He just didn't feel comfortable with someone he was struggling to trust again.

Did he trust Rhonda?

Granted, he barely knew Rhonda, and they hardly spoke outside of work. Still, things weren't complicated with Rhonda, they didn't take much effort. She didn't communicate of harbor any emotional ties to her exes, none of which Cosmo would have known personally. In a way, Rhonda was like a break. Did this mean he caught feelings? Not as far as he knew. But Wanda caught feelings for someone else before, so he wondered if it was possible for him to develop feelings for someone else. He'd never imagine himself dating anyone else and couldn't fathom what that would feel like…

Until recently.

He still courted Wanda out of his belief that he wouldn't find anyone else period let alone find anyone better. Girls weren't exactly lining up to date him, and in that same token, he didn't think of himself as that great of a catch. Rhonda's borderline flirtatious behavior toward him should send red flags considering he was already in a relationship, but with those same red flags, questioning whether Rhonda was fully into him wasn't a big of a mystery as to whether he could say the same about Wanda.

Eight-year-old Cosmo peered from the top of the staircase into the living room, having heard his parents arguing from his bedroom with the door closed. He made sure to keep himself out of sight so that the anger directed towards the two of them wouldn't target him next.

"I called your office and they told me you left hours ago!" Mama Cosma griped as her husband impatiently pinched his bridge. "Why did it take you so long to come home?!"

"I went out with the guys for drinks!" Papa Cosmo reminded, sick of Mama Cosma singing the same tune of 'my husband's a cheater.' "If you'd actually listen to your voicemail instead of calling my workplace, you would have known that!"

"Pish posh!" Mama Cosma confronted him, reaching for the phone in his other hand. "You probably called your mistress instead!"

"The hell is wrong with you, woman?!" Papa Cosmo held his hand against Mama Cosma's face, holding her back from his phone. "I have. No. Mistress!"

In rebellion, Mama Cosma smacked her husband's hand from her face, charging with all the strength she could muster. "Give me that phone!"

"Get off me you crazy bi-"

Mama Cosma's palm clapped Papa Cosmo's check with an echoed blow, a blow which even made Cosmo flinch in an automatic response. Gradually raising a hand to the heat radiating off his cheek, Papa Cosmo turned to his glowering wife with a scowl Cosmo had never seen from his father before. Papa Cosmo had no other reaction other than to push passed his wife, stalling suddenly when he found his son staring down from the top of the staircase before Cosmo had a chance to run away.

"Cosmo…" his shamrock eyes frozen as if his son were a stranger. "…y-you shouldn't be here-"

"Of course, he should be!" Mama Cosma countered bitterly, crossing her arms against her chest. "So he can see what a low-down dirty cheat he has for a father!"

Papa Cosmo shot a glare to his wife, her arrogant smug pissing him off more by the second. Shaking his head in denial, Papa Cosmo quickly turned to hurry up the staircase, almost blind to his son frozen in place as Mama Cosma hurled mocking insults, labeling her husband nothing but a pathetic coward before storming off, leaving a worried Cosmo struggling to process what just occurred as a hard slam echoed from behind him, turning to see that his parents' bedroom door had been shut.

Cosmo sat on the top step for what felt like hours, his inexperienced mind mulling over everything that transpired. For some reason, Mama Cosma thought Papa Cosmo having a life outside his family meant he was going around being unfaithful. If he came home outside his normal arrival time from work, if he didn't inform her of his whereabouts 25/8, if he didn't come home smelling the same he did when he left that morning, if he called or texted anyone besides Mama Cosma, if he essentially did anything that wasn't centered around Mama Cosma and her insecurities, she automatically accused him of cheating.

Whatever cheating meant, obviously it wasn't good. They argued more than not, and cheating accusations took up 50% of their arguments. Cosmo didn't know why they argue, but it really bothered him when they did. Papa Cosmo would tell him stories of how things used to be, how he and Mama Cosma couldn't keep their hands off each other. Times where they were head over heels, beyond the stars, across the universe, madly in love with each other. That was before Cosmo was born, so that must mean Cosmo was why they stopped loving each other. At least, that's what Cosmo told himself.

A soft thud behind him shook his attention, a thud which sounded as close to him as the bathroom was in proximity. Cosmo stared at the bathroom door, wondering if some object fell in the bathroom somehow. Pulling himself up, Cosmo slowly hovered to the door, reaching for the doorknob. With a single twist, Cosmo opened the door, and an empty pill bottle lay next to the still body of his father, all source of life drained from his sunken face…

Jolting awake in his bed, Cosmo frantically darted his eyes back and forth in the darkness of his room, soon turning to read '3:30 am' glowing in digital red from his alarm clock. Taking deep breaths to control his breathing, Cosmo plopped backwards onto his bed, staring towards the ceiling. Such vivid dreams, though they differ in terms of events, have been reoccurring for the last month or so. Cosmo had never dreamt of his father's suicide beforehand, so it puzzled him why he'd start now. No one knew about these dreams, not even Wanda.

If he couldn't understand them himself, how could he expect anyone else to?

Sitting on one of the benches of Fairy Academy, Cosmo held his chin in his palm, eyes cast towards his black combat boots. A green, short-sleeve v-neck layered the white t-shirt, and his dark denim sported a silver chain held by two belt loops.

No amount of sleep could cure the level of tired Cosmo felt. Trudging through a full day of classes just to clock in for work in a couple of hours. He would call in if it weren't for the probability that three to four other people already have. Plus, he's called in multiple times throughout the summer which only made Snarki harp on him harder. After the day he had yesterday, that absolutely cannot happen or else Cosmo's temper's gonna need a good-ass lawyer.

The sound of someone clearing their throat stole him from his daze, and when he lifted his eyes from the ground, painful boulders weighted his already heavy heart.

Wanda wore her rosette curls down her back tucked behind her ears, full of piercings besides the yellow pearls in her earlobes and an industrial piercing in her right ear. Her yellow off-shoulder blouse layered her mesh long sleeves gloved with her arm warmers, and a studded belt haltered her black leather pencil skirt hemmed in pastel pink covered, fishnet stockings sporting black leather ankle boots.

He observed how little she made eye contact, hearing her timid greeting of "…hey."

On a normal day, he'd probably return her greeting. Today, however, held no room for forced formalities.

"…how much longer are you gonna act like this?" she questioned as more of a statement with a hint of annoyance.

Just as annoyed, Cosmo's emotionless expression replied "Until you give me a reason not to."

Admittedly, Cosmo hadn't exactly been the nicest towards Wanda, but he'd describe himself as more guarded than anything. Has everyone in their circle noticed? Yeah. Has he been called out on it? Oh yeah, multiple times. Did he care? Mmmm. Maybe a little. Then again, they were outsiders looking in. Spike and Alewandro could never understand his situation. Rose's ex is literally a crazy lunatic rotting in jail, and Alewandro knew none of Susie's exes because not only did she and her exes mutually cut ties, their relationships never even reached the level of serious that Cosmo assumed Wanda had with Juandissimo.

With a small groan, Wanda folded her arms as if to shield her nerves from whatever reaction Cosmo would have from the news she was about to share. "You know how…I promised I'd be more honest." She waited for his response which came in a nonchalant shrug. "And…do you remember me signing up for the tutoring program as a private tutor?"

"Yeah?" Why can't she just get to the point already? "So?"

"So…" Wanda pretended to be unbothered by his impatience. "…I went to see who my new students were and…I found out…" she apprehensively rubbed her forearms, a nervous habit she'd been doing more of lately. "…that Juandissimo is one of them."

The way Cosmo scoffed made Wanda wish he'd just go back to shrugging. "You must be thrilled about that…"

"…not that thrilled, actually." came her defensive reply. "I tried to get out of it but I couldn't."

"Oh yeah?" Cosmo rose from his seat on the bench, facing her with a suspecting stare. "If you actually tried, then why are you still his tutor?"

"Students sign up for their tutor, not the other way around!" Wanda refuted. "Ms. Sevante won't make an exception!"

"Yeah, okay…" Cosmo rolled his eyes. He had heard from Alewandro that Juandissimo was released from the hospital two weeks ago, right in time for the new school year to start. Unbelievable; this guy just gets released from Psych, and he's already a problem.

"Cosmo, I'm sorry…" Wanda apologized, something she found herself doing more often than not. "Unless Juandissimo changes his mind, I don't really have a choice."

"Y'know what? You probably could have kept that from me like you have all the other times you've been around him." Cosmo bluntly commented. "Doesn't change the fact that you still love him."

"Not in that way, Cosmo!"

"Yeah right!"

Cosmo hurried passed Wanda, flying in no real direction. Did he like being so heartless to the woman he loved? No, but he refused to share her love with another man.

She was utterly devastated when she heard what happened to Juandissimo, something that, in Cosmo's mind, wouldn't happen if there weren't stronger feelings there. Sure, fairies don't have seizures often. If and when they happen, it's really fricking scary, so yeah, he'll give her that. Despite this, from what Cosmo understood from their conversation a few months prior, Wanda promised to be more honest with him and to have no ties to Juandissimo once so ever.

Looked to him she was barely keeping one half of those promises.

Continuing his aimless journey through the stone paths, his eyes stumbled upon the biggest divide between him and Wanda. Seated alone on a random bench beneath the tree shaded from the radiating sun in lavender leaves, Juandissimo appeared to be texting on his phone, subtly bobbing his head to whatever song played through his earbuds. Besides the same lip ring he had the year before, his chin had grown a small stubble of a goatee. His biceps, more defined than Cosmo remembered, were exposed from the leather vest layering his white wife-beater, accessorized by a silver chain draped around his neck. Black leather belted the waist of his dark denim jeans, footed with black pointed boots.

Was this another round of "How can life royally screw with Cosmo today?"

Guess while he outwardly doesn't look terribly busy, Cosmo figured he might as well go let him know how things are going to work around here.

Veering off the stone path into the lavender grass, Cosmo loomed towards Juandissimo until he stood a few feet away, stern hands on his hips. He didn't bother trying to get Juandissimo's attention, because it only took a few seconds for him to look up from his phone, meeting Cosmo's authoritative stance with a nonchalant stare.

The stare-down of the century lasted a few more seconds before Juandissimo was the first to break the awkward tension when he took out his earbuds. "…yes?"

Cosmo wasn't going to waste any more of both their time, so he got straight to it. "Drop Wanda as your tutor."

Juandissimo couldn't be more unbothered. "…why?"

"Your affiliation with my girlfriend is, quite frankly, inappropriate."

"Wow…" Juandissimo sneered, almost in a sardonic tone. "…affiliation, frankly, inappropriate…those are big words for you."

"Don't mock me, Magoo." Cosmo firmly warned. "Or I'll whale on your ass again."

"Look…" Juandissimo exhaled in annoyance. "I have enough problems of my own. I do not need you piling on."

"Then you'd be doing yourself a favor by doing what I asked." Cosmo rebutted, not backing down.

"Okay, not that I owe you any kind of explanation…" Juandissimo stood from his seat, dusting himself off before he continued. "…pero…when I took my deferred exams, I passed by a thread except in Fairy World History. Tu novia is the only tutor offering help in that subject, and I need to ace this class to get off academic probation."

"Woooow, academic probation." Cosmo commented haughtily. "Sucks for you, huh." He never thought he'd hear 'Juandissimo' paired with 'academic probation,' yet someone who, just barely, escaped academic probation, he'd probably empathize if Juandissimo wasn't…well…him.

Whoever this guy thinks he is, Juandissimo had never seen a man so insecure. "Do you truly distrust tu novia that much?"

"I dunno, Magoo." Cosmo remained defensive, inching forwarded. "Should I not trust you, instead?"

"It is not like Wanda would be tutoring me for free." Juandissimo defended. "Students tutors get paid through the program if they have a student to tutor. Are you so bothered that you would stop her from making her own money?"

"I'm not stopping her from making her own money." Cosmo refuted. "I'm keeping my girlfriend away from her ex who's her ex for a reason." Shamrock green glared into blue-violet, his tone lowered to an uncharacteristic menace. "So I am not…gonna ask you again."

Cosmo held his serious gaze with Juandissimo doing the same, and when he felt as if his point was made, Cosmo inched backwards before floating away completely.

Eight-year-old Cosmo floated down the hallway of his childhood home, calling for his father. He twisted the doorknob to the hallway bathroom, opening the door to find his father unresponsive on the tile with an emptied pill bottle beside him. "…papa?" he croaked, kneeling down to the body. His tiny hands shook his father, attempting to wake him. The more he shook, the less difference it made, and his eyes brimmed with tears as the realization that his best friend was no longer with him. "…papa, wake up…"

"You're wasting your time."

Cosmo' tearful eyes whipped to his mother, seeing her firm gaze unbothered by her son's grief.

"He was gonna leave eventually…one way or another." A few tears trickled down his rosy cheeks when his mother actually chuckled in front of him. "That father of yours didn't even care enough you to stay for his son." She shook her head tauntingly, crossing her arms. "The son he claimed to love to the moon and back. Ha! Yeah…if he actually loved you, he wouldn't have been so weak-"

"Shut up!"

Cosmo's tears only heightened when turquoise orbs scowled with fury. "Don't talk about papa like that!"

Her son cried out from her nails clawing the top of his green shag, yanking his small body from that of her late husband's "You don't speak to me like that!"

"NOOOO!" her son's shrieking wails rang out as he was forcibly dragged out of the bathroom, pleading arms outstretched towards his father. "PAPAAAAA!"

Cosmo's eyes shot open in the dark, the strain in his chest struggling to breathe. He lifted himself with his arms, turning to his alarm clock to read '3:30am'. Part of him hoped that a full shift at work would have tired him out enough to sleep a lot longer than two hours…

Reaching to turn on his lamp, he squinted his eyes from the sudden burst of light shining against the white-painted walls. Gray carpet coated the floor, his hunter-green duvet pulled over the white linen sheets and mattress cover. Lilac wood framed his bed placed near the single arched window blinded by white shutters, and his corresponding nightstand stood next to his dresser perpendicular to the walk-in closet beside the entrance to his bedroom.

His school desk sat in front of his bed, lined with sprawled textbooks, notebooks, a desk lamp, and his backpack, and propped against the leg of his desk was the same green skateboard that he's kept from childhood and the days where he used to skate to school pre-university.

It's been quite a while since he's taken the ol' board for a spin…

What a better time than the devil's hour?

Taking his wand from his desk, he poofed his old green hoody over his white tank-top, keeping his black jogger pants with slippers footing his feet, and grabbing his skateboard, he poofed himself out of the apartment onto the parking lot, setting his skateboard on the ground.

Placing one foot on the board, he used the other propel himself to a minimal traveling speed, rolling out of the opened lot onto the sidewalk. Sparkling stars coated the black blanket of sky, a half-crescent moon gleaming down, adding light to the streetlamps providing artificial lights along the sidewalks of the main road. A couple of cars passed as he skated, some booming in bass from illegible hip hop songs blowing out car speakers. Other than that, the air stood still, no other sounds but the buckling roll of his wheels across the pavement. Something told him to keep traveling south, though south could have been the opposite direction as far as he knew.

He forgot his phone in his room, but he couldn't be bothered to use magic to get it. It's not like anyone would be calling him at this hour anyway. Probably would be nice to know the time though. He'd been skating for what felt like an hour. Exhaustion was starting to creep in, but he had to keep going. He kept going forward, no end in sight to his journey.

Turning a corner away from the roads, Cosmo noticed the moss-laden marble pillars and bricks of grey-orange stood on either side of the ancient wrought-iron gates. He looked up to read 'Fairy World Cemetery' written in iron high about the entrance.

He stepped down on the back of his board to brake, reading the entrance again as if to verify that he wasn't dreaming and that he was in fact physically present in that moment. How the heck did he get all the way out here?

That was when he remembered…

His father was here.

Traveling into the cemetery, he held his skateboard underneath his arm, following the rows of rustic gravestones. Geez, the last time he came here was right after he and his mother buried his father. Thanks to his mother, he never visited his father until now. It had been so long, he struggled to recall exactly where he was buried. A sea of graves, and his father could be any one of them…

That same voice that told him to keep moving forward then told him to look to his right, and when he did so, he had arrived at his destination.

Planted along the second row from the gravel path was the tombstone of Cosmo Caesar Cosma.

Carefully approaching the grave, Cosmo took his time taking a seat in front of it, setting his skateboard next to him. The only other family members Cosmo knew about were his mother and his Grandpa Gonzo, so he was confused as to why there were fresh flowers. Maybe the grave keepers felt generous or something.

A dim breeze swayed faintly through his green locks, at a total loss for words. Here was the man that for eight years made smiling a little less taxing, the man that made him feel a little less lonely. The man he modeled in image and almost by name, the man who showed him what it means when a parent loves their child unconditionally. The only family member Cosmo felt connected to…the relative Cosmo neglected for twelve years…

What could he possibly say to make up for that?

"…I'm sorry." was all he could speak at first. "…mama never let me come here before and…I-I've been busy."

Was 'busy' even the right word? "Papa I…" his lips tried to find the right words he wanted to say. "…I-I don't know why I keep having these dreams…"

Twiddling his thumbs, his mind flashed back to the memories haunting him slumber. All which ended with the tragic vision of his father drained of any presence of life. "What is it, papa?" Cosmo questioned as if he would get a vocal response back. "…what are you trying to tell me?" He waited for some sort of sign, any sign, that his father could possibly be listening. "Please papa…tell me."

All he received in response was another gentle wind dancing through his hair.

AN: Y'know, I really don't know if Papa Cosmo would have a different middle name, but since Cosmo hasn't been officially defined as a 'Jr.', I came up with Caesar for a middle name...y'know...Julius...Caesar...**cough** anyways.

Feel free ta tell meh wha ya think!